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UPDATE: “Michael Sindoni will remain the executive chef at CBD Provisions,” Headington Co. president Michael Tregoning said via email. As for whether Grasslands will be opening later this year as planned and whether Greg Bussey and Matt Ford will stay on the project, Tregoning said, “It’s too early to tell. We have great respect for chefs Greg Bussey and Matt Ford and hope to utilize their extraordinary talents on-site.” The same goes, he said, for Tim Bevins and the Front Room.

UPDATE: In a phone interview, Tristan Simon addressed the question of why Consilient Restaurants Holdings is no longer managing the Joule Hotel and the Front Room at the Lumen Hotel. “Ultimately we were unable to find a business structure that worked for both Headington and Consilient,” he said, “so a decision was made to shift focus to Consilient’s independent restaurant business and expansion brands.” There are currently no plans for any of the four chefs involved — Sindoni, Bussey, Ford and Bevins — to move over to Consilient. Of course any of that could change; I’m guessing it will take some time for it all to play out. I’m waiting to hear back from the Headington Companies spokesperson for more.

Headington Companies, which owns the Joule Hotel and the Lumen Hotel, has announced that Consilient Restaurant Holdings will no longer operate or manage any aspects of those properties, including the restaurants. That means that CBD Provisions and the Front Room will no longer be run by Consilient.

Headington still maintains, according to a statement press release offered exclusively to the Dallas Morning News, “a significant financial investment in Consilient Restaurant Holdings with founder Tristan Simon at the helm.”

The release quotes Headington president Michael Tregoning as saying, “We are very pleased with CBD Provisions, which has helped make Main Street a destination for great food in a unique environment. We remain significantly invested in Consilient and, under the leadership of Tristan Simon, we expect the company to succeed.”

With executive chef Michael Sindoni in charge of the kitchen, CBD Provisions earned four stars in a review in December, and was named The Best in DFW: New Restaurant of the Year. Consilient has been developing Grasslands, the ambitious, dinner-only, produce-forward restaurant it planned to open later this year, for many months, with Greg Bussey and Matt Ford as co-executive chefs. Consilient has also been redeveloping the Front Room at the Lumen Hotel, with Tim Bevins as executive chef.

“Playing a role in the expansion of the Joule and working on the Front Room was a rewarding experience, and we are grateful to Headington Companies for the opportunity” the release quotes Simon as saying. “Above all else, we are incredibly proud of CBD Provisions for the Joule.”

There are a few unknowns: Will Sindoni stay on at CBD Provisions or move over to the Consilient fold? Prior to the opening of CBD, he was executive chef at Charlie Palmer at the Joule. Will the Grasslands project continue as planned, and if so, will Bussey and Ford stay on as co-executive chefs, or will they stay with Consilient? And what are the plans for the Front Room and Bevins? And finally, what was the reason for the breach?

I have calls and emails out to a spokesperson for Headington Companies and to Tristan Simon, and will post an update as soon as I learn more.
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The dining room at CBD Provisions will be the setting for future pork fests

By now you’ve heard that Consilient Hospitality will be opening CBD Provisions in the Joule hotel — and that opening is on track, says publicist Brooke Hortenstine, for Oct. 10. Have you been as curious as I have about what chef Michael Sindoni will have on his menu? Well, your curiosity (if not your hunger) can be instantly sated, as CBD’s website is now up and the breakfast, lunch, brunch and dinner menus are posted.

How does it look? Pretty alluring — especially if you’re a pork lover. Looks like a pork fest in the making at the Joule! But there’s lots more, too.

For dinner, starters include “little goat pie” with stout-braised cabrito; pig tails with guajillo barbecue and kohlrabi peach slaw; and broiled Gulf oysters with (are you sitting down?) absinthe-whipped lardo and bacon crumble. After that, you can order 18-hour pork shoulder with crispy hominy and green chiles, or pig-head carnitas served family-style. I am so there.

Lunchtime offerings include a whole hog Cuban sandwich; a smoked fish salad with green goddess dressing; red chili or a burger, both made with Texas grass-fed beef. The burger comes with Texas cheddar. Or how about a pressed grilled cheese sandwich with house-made mortadella?

The breakfast and brunch menus look promising, too, with things like ndjua pimento cheese (pork!); ham and egg gougères (pork!) with Benton’s Country Ham and poached farm eggs; and green chile pork (pork!) tacos. If you’re feeling more sweet than savory, there are house-made pastries; buckwheat pancakes with housemade blueberry jam; and sourdough French toast with Texas pecan “Nutella” and bananas.

Consilient Hospitality will open a new restaurant in 2014 in the Charlie Palmer at the Joule space

UPDATE: Consilient Hospitality spokesperson Brooke Hortenstine just contacted me to say that the information she had provided us this morning included erroneous information. In fact today is the last day for Charlie Palmer at the Joule. It will reopen tomorrow as the Joule Restaurant, with the same menu in place. The date it will close to begin renovations for the new restaurant is up in the air.

ORIGINAL POST: Well, the guessing game Dallas’ dining cognoscenti have been playing for more than a year is officially solved: Charlie Palmer at the Joule will close tomorrow on Oct. 9, and it will not be replaced by Charlie Palmer Steak, as had originally been the plan. Instead, the ex-Charlie Palmer space will make way for a new restaurant from Consilient Hospitality, the Tristan Simon-Tim Headington partnership that manages operations for the Joule Hotel and Shops Dallas. Details, such as chef and concept, have not yet been announced; Consilient plans to open the new establishment in 2014. Once Charlie Palmer closes, work will begin immediately, as part of the Joule’s two-year, multi-phase expansion. Consilient also owns a slew of restaurants on Henderson Ave. and operates Front Room at the Lumen, where reconcepting plans are in the works.

Michael Sindoni, executive chef at CBD Provisions

Can’t wait? Well, Consilient plans to open the doors of CBD Provisions, an “urban brasserie” that will serve “progressive, Texas-centered cuisine,” next month — on October 10. Michael Sindoni (who had been tapped to be executive chef for the ill-fated Charlie Palmer Steakhouse) will be executive chef. Recently, Sindoni has been running the kitchen at Charlie Palmer at the Joule. CBD Provisions will offer breakfast, lunch and dinner daily, along with brunch on weekends.

Downtown’s rejuvenation continues at the Joule, where Weekend Coffee has opened. The shop, which features single-origin brews and cold brews made with beans from Seattle-based Victrola Coffee Roasters, also has a La Marzocco espresso machine. No grandes and ventis here — coffee drinks, many of which are available iced, are available in one size only. Want a nibble? Sweet and savory snacks baked by Joule chef Ruban Torano change daily. Lately cheddar-and-egg gougères, s’more scones, strawberry-coconut-lemon zest muffins and mango-passion fruit pop tarts have been among the offerings.

For later this summer, Consilient Restaurants has plans to open CBD Provisions, an American brasserie, at the Joule. Aug. 13 is the target date. Michael Sindoni, who’s currently in charge of the kitchen at Charlie Palmer at the Joule, will be executive chef.

Consilient is also on track, according to Tristan Simon (who owns the restaurant group with Tim Headington), to open American F + B in Fort Worth on October 15. Executive chef there will be Jeffery Hobbs. You may remember Hobbs from Sissy’s Southern Kitchen and Bar, where he was executive chef until last fall.

Charlie Palmer has announced that Michael Sindoni has taken over as executive chef at the Joule hotel, where plans are in motion to transform Charlie Palmer at the Joule into Charlie Palmer Steak. Sindoni’s last gig, says the press release, was as executive chef at AGAINN, a contemporary British Isles bistro in Washington, D.C. Sindoni, a graduate of Johnson and Wales, also held positions at two California restaurants, Cervinia Restaurant in Mammoth Lakes and Navio at the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, as well as Il Cibreo, in Florence, Italy. He’ll be overseeing the Joule’s food and beverage program and development and management of the new food hall Palmer plans to open in the fall.

Though dates are still up in the air, Charlie Palmer at the Joule will close only briefly before reopening as Charlie Palmer Steak, a transformation that will be overseen by executive sous chef Joel Harrington.